Summary
First, it acted with startling speed—so quickly, in fact, that it published the order before Alito could finish writing his dissent; he was forced to note only that a “statement” would “follow.”
Relatedly, awkward phrasing in court’s order may imply that Alito—who first received the plaintiffs’ request—failed to refer it to the full court, as is custom, compelling the other justices to rip the case away from him.
Second, it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process.
Finally, and perhaps most obviously, it’s critical that only Thomas and Alito noted their dissents. When the court takes emergency action, justices don’t have to note their votes, but they usually do; we can probably assume that this order was 7–2. That would mean that Chief Justice John Roberts—along Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett—joined this rebuke to the Trump administration.
It is kind of surprising that all three of the trump-appointed justices went along with the opinion. They’re no heroes by any means, but I’m still relieved when they decide to do the bare minimum. Really, it just shows how depraved Thomas and Alito are.
My gut thought, is they both had all of their dirty laundry aired during their confirmations, and haven’t been in long enough to really break too many laws. Thomas and Alito are as dirty as they come and have nothing to lose trying to protect themselves. They’re at different parts of their careers, and T and A have skeletons.
Honestly, if they and people in government had done the bare minimum to uphold the law, much of this would not have happened. This administration has been working in legal gray areas since day one. I recently learned of the phrase “state of exception” and it fits a lot of what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.